Someone Else's Skin
by Freak-With-Issues
Summary: Sakura is your average doctor during the day, helping patients and learning about the evolving medical field. During nights, she becomes entangled in the criminal web that is Konoha. She is Spiderman, and she will find you. GaaraxSakura
1. Meet The Hero

I winced when I pressed the polysporin soaked cloth against my left side on my ribs where a long and uncomfortably deep gash ran. I used my empty hand to reach across the bed where all my medical supplies where spread out to grab my sewing kit. I took the rag off my stinging side to thread the needle before leaning over and forcing the needle through the skin I was holding together. I repeated the proccess until the wound was satisifactorily closed before I tied off the end and took a deep breath. I then turned to my smaller injuries wondering why the assholes robbing the jewelery store just had to carry knifes as back ups.

The main source of my worry was a cut that went diagonal across my right cheek with the upper end going up my nose slightly. It wasn't particularly deep or gruesome nor did it have the possibility of infection, but it was not going to be easy to cover up. As I climbed off my bed and began packing up my supplies, mindful of my side, I heard a knock at my one-room apartment door and nearly panicked. I hadn't changed, was still covered in blood, and handn't gotten around to showering so I could pick out glass and clean up my cuts. I decided to go with not home excuse and held perfectly still so not to notify the visitor of her presence.

"Sakura?" I cursed silently at the voice of my boyfriend. I knew he'd wait around at my front door until I 'came home', so she made a fast decision. I shot webs up on the ceiling and used them to pull myself up off the ground and swing myself across the room to my nightstand where I placed my medical kit. I then set myself down on my bed slowly and let the exhaustion take myself over ignoring my boyfriend's calls. He definitly wasn't as important as my sleep at the moment.

**2 Hours Earlier**

I lied in my bed, listening to my iPod with headphone and using the other ear to listen to the police radio in my hand. It was rather quiet today, nothing that would need my help, when I suddenly heard the announcement of a robbery going on in a jewelery store and there were hostages. The word hostages had barely been spoken when I leapt from my bed and ripped open the chest at the end of my bed yanking out my suit. I stripped and after quickly wrappeding my chest I pulled on my suit and ran to the window throwing it open and leaping from it. I shot webs out that attached to the building across from mine and moved quickly towards the jewelery store's location.

When I landed on the ground in front of the store I glanced back at the cops once before darting to the side of the building. The number one mistake I found criminals made was checking to make sure the building was secure so side and back entrances were usually my ticket inside. As I slipped down the alley beside the building I grinned at the sight of a side door that looked easily breakable. I glanced around the alley before spotting a crow bar with empty crates. I grabbed the crow ba and used it to pry open the door since it would be quieter than me kicking it open.

When the door swung open I stepped inside the building with the crow bar in hand. I gripped it tighter when I heard a woman scream and picked up my pace moving through the back storage room towards the front room. Once I stood in the doorway to the front room I saw all the thugs turned away from me facing the cops screaming at them to back off or the woman the one thug held in his arms at gun point would die.

A plan came to me quickly and using webs I yanked the two thugs guns away surprising them. They turned around, the one still holding the woman, and upon seeing me frantically dug into their pockets producing knives. I narrowed my eyes when the man without a hostage snatched up a young boy off the ground from his mothers arms where the rest of the hostages were huddled against the register counter.

He grinned at me as he traced the knife against he boys throat slowly. "I hear you've got a soft spot for civilians spidy. Guess that includes cute little kids who ain't got nothing to do with things. You let us leave, we let everyone live." I didn't believe a word he said and shot webs on the ceiling and tried to wing myself across to him but was intercepted when the thug with the lady chucked his knife at me causing me to have to drop to the floor to dodge it. I then sprinted towards the man with the kid and knife, throwing a web at the now unarmed theif to tie him to the wall. The kid struggled and I could tell the theif was panicking.

At the last minute he shoved the kid at me and I had to leap over the boy as not to hurt him leaving me open. When I was coming back to the ground the theif slashed with his knife cutting my side. I hissed but turned around to fight him anyways, attempting to use my webs to pull the knife out of his hands. He lashed out at me again with the knife this time cutting from the bridge of my nose diagonal across my right cheek. It stung, but the concern for the civilians was overriding any pain I would have felt leaving only a slight discomfort when I was injured.

I threw several punches at him and back him towards the front of the store where I pressed him all the way to the glass front show window. I decided then and there he wasn't going to just give up so I dove at him smashing us both into the window that gave under out combined weight. The glass cut my skin hurt but I focused on keeping him pinned while hearing the sound of boots thudding as they ran closer. I moved out of the way as the cops hauled him up off the ground and then went inside the building to arrest the other theif.

I let out a long breath, attempting to slow my heartbeat. I was brought back to reality when I heard a call of, "Spiderman!" The little boy from eariler came sprinting up to me and I turned to him and forced myself to smile. I knelt down to his height and ruffled his hair when he stopped right in front of me. "Thank you for saving me!" Moments later his mother appeared and swept him up into a tight embrace that I couldn't help but simile at. I had always found little kids cute especially when with their parents since I'd never been to close with mine.

With tears in her eyes she looked at me and whispered in a teary voice, "Thank you for saving us. Especially my little Tommy." I nodded, unable to speak. I knew that if I spoke my, difficultly admitted, high voice would give away my real gender and too many sexist jerks would attempt to do my job for me thinking it was something only a man could do. That was why I went with being 'Spiderman'. It was weird to be seen as a man by everyone who knew about me, but it wasn't a big sacrifice.

When the adrenaline high disappeared I let out a sharp hiss and glanced down at my side while pressing my left hand to it to try and slow the blood flow. "Oh my, let's get you to a paramedic!" the woman exclaimed, but I shook my head and quickly turned away from her before shooting webs onto the nearest building and swinging off back towards my apartment.

Just another day in the life of a cities only hero, 'Spiderman'.

**A/N: **Just another story from the evil plot bunny. Let me know what you think please as well as where you'd like to see this story, because other than a vague idea I have no idea where to take this.


	2. Hostage of a Hellion

**A/N: **I knew there wouldn't be much interest in this weird mix when I started it, but the lack of response still kinda bums me out. Ah, whatever, the show will go on!

When I woke I cracked my eyes open and death glared my alarm clock. Damn thing wouldn't shut up. I smashed my hand down on the snooze button and earned silence. I dragged myself out of bed and forced myself towards my bathroom. I pushed open the door and walked over to the sink, wrinkling my nose at the rust stains I had been meaning to get rid of but there never seemed to be enough time in my schedule. I turned on the tap, making sure it was cold, before splashing the water on my face to help wake myself up. I then looked in the mirror, fingering my pastel pink hair subconsciously as I stared at my reflection.

I had never been particularly fond of my hair, it being the cause of constant teasing through my younger years, but I had grown to appreciate its uniqueness over the years. The only problem it gave me was the difficulty to go unnoticed or hide with it. It was like a neon sign screaming my position at all times. I peeled off my suit, noting I'd need to patch it up later, before stepping out of my underwear and chest wrappings and into the shower. I turned on the water and hissed as it rained down on my injuries, especially my side.

After twenty minutes of fighting against the needs to flee from the col water I climbed out and dried off. Wrapped in only my towel I walked into my room to get dressed and I noticed something had been slipped under the front door. I walked over and snatched the paper up off the floor.

"This is 1 week advance notice of eviction for failure to keep up with the financial agreement of this building."

I stopped reading there, balling up the paper and tossing it into the trash. It frustrated me getting those every couple months since I always came through with the cash, even if it was a little late. I had money, my parent's inheritance had been quite the pretty penny, but with everything going on in my life between patients and criminals my rent was always the last thing on my list. I dressed in a pair of black pump heels, a black pencil skirt, and a white blouse with my doctor's coat over before grabbing the rent money and leaving. Usually my coat was at work, but lately work had been following me home with all the special cases I had been given because of my medical skills.

On my way through the hallway to the stairs I saw Sam, my tenant. I handed him the cash and with a smile announced, "You can't get rid of me that easily."

After work I came home exhausted, glad to have not heard anything over the police radio during the day. It was always difficult to leave a patient and it was extremely hard to explain my sudden leave to my boss, Tsunade. She was a kind woman, though she drank a lot and had a horrible temper, and let it slide since I never left during surgeries or anything important. Truth was, during all surgeries I left my radio outside the room and was a nervous wreck, freaking myself out about whether there had been any criminal activity since I'd begun.

I dropped my keys and bag on the table beside the front door and peeled off my work clothes leaving me in my underwear and bra. I crawled up on my bed and laid my head on my pillow, a soft sigh slipping through my lips as I relaxed for the first time in days. I then decided to set to work sewing up my suit so it would be ready when I needed it.

After finishing that task I'd laid back on my pillow and I was just dozing off when my police radio announced a man with a hostage on top of...my apartment building?

I leapt into action, throwing off my tank top, binding my chest, and pulling on my suit. I threw open my window and immediately latched onto the wall, scaling towards the roof. When I heard the screams of, "It's Spiderman!" from below I knew there was already a crowd gathered making my job more difficult. They were just supplying more possible hostages for this guy if things moved towards the street and he disposed of his current one. As I got higher on the 24 floor building I spotted him, holding a somewhat overweight blonde woman in a pantsuit who looked absolutely terrified. He was holding her by her waist, letting her dangle over the edge of the building with her heeled shoes only touching air, as he pressed a handgun to her temple.

He glanced down, noticing me, and a feral grin spread across his face. I didn't recognize him from anywhere, most criminal performing like this having done something before, and his thick red hair made him stand out. He was a tall, well built man and I knew I may not win against him in the strength or size department, but hopefully I was more agile. He shook the woman, his feet shifting towards the edge of the building's ledge he stood on.

"I see our city's legendary hero has shown up, finally." I didn't understand the _finally _at the end, like he'd been waiting just for me to show up, but I didn't have time to dwell on it. He grinned, suddenly letting the woman go. She began to plummet towards the ground and I reacted quickly, leaping from the building to grab her and throw a web onto the building across the street and then another onto my building when she clutched me tightly. Despite my webs, we were still falling quickly and from the extra weight my webs were being strained to the point of possibly snapping. I made a split decision and attached the webs to the woman and wrapped her in several more webs to make sure she didn't slip before jumping away from her so it wouldn't be the weight of both of us.

Immediately her descent slowed and she reached the ground safely, but mine was sped up. I landed on a car parked on the street below with a bellowing crunch and arched my back from the pain. I pushed myself up to a kneeling position and after several deep breathes I shot webs up on my building and began scaling the building as fast as I could to apprehend the criminal. He was no longer on the ledge when I swung up onto the roof and I looked around warily, holding my searing side.

"You don't look too well." I spun around to find the red head from earlier standing in the doorway of the rooftop entrance. He was grinning and stalked towards me quickly as my vision became distorted from the pain. I'd already decided I probably had at least a cracked rib or two from my fall and my body-already exhausted from stress, injuries, and overwork-was probably going to fall into unconsciousness so I could heal, but I didn't have time for that.

I fought the darkness closing in on my vision as he neared, staggering slightly. "What the hell was with dropping that woman off the building?" I snarled, furious at his arrogant act.

"I wanted to see what you would do and you sure didn't disappoint. I wasn't sure your webs could hold you two up, and obviously I was right, but I didn't know you'd go as far as to let her get to safety while you fell to your possible death. Bravo." When he began clapping, that was too much for me. I lunged at him, but was quickly falling towards the ground. He managed to shock when he moved forwards and caught me my placing his hands on my waist and setting my head against his shoulder.

"What are you doing?" I mumbled, suddenly feeling so tired.

"Can't a fan help his hero out?" And then he was pulling me up into a bridal carry, lifting my limp body up and heading towards the rooftop entrance with me in his arms. I wanted to tell him to stop, shove him away from me and beat the jerk senseless, but I was _so _tired. As he started walking down the stairs it was almost like he was careful not to jostle me because my side didn't hurt.

I faded out of consciousness for a couple minutes and when I came to Gaara was setting me down on my bed. He then reached for my suit and I found the strength to swat him away, earning myself an amused smile from the gorgeous red head. My thoughts of his appearance would torment me later. He put his hands up in a defensive position and just continued to smirk before haughtily announcing, "It's alright, I already know you aren't Spider_man_."

With that he leaned forward pecked me on the lips and then stood up and walked out of my apartment calling over his shoulder, "Until we meet again."


	3. Breakfast

**A/N: **Thanks for the reivews and encouragement! Enjoy!

When I awoke my chest still hurt and I hissed when I sat up. I recalled memories of a red head in my bedroom and slammed my fist down on my nightstand, rocking my alarm clock and lamp as a red spread across my cheeks. That jerk sure had a lot of nerve kissing me so carelessly! I forced myself to get out of bed and drug my body to the bathroom where I struggled with my suit before getting it off and getting into the shower where I turned on the cold water to start my day. At least it was Saturday, my day off.

My ribs stung like hell while I showered and I decided to go grab some breakfast since I'd only gotten to eat lunch in the past two days and it was at the hospital, so it barely counted. As I dressed in a black tank top with and skinny jeans with a pair of black converse, I couldn't help but think about the red head and I realized I didn't even know his name. The fact that he'd pulled the hostage stunt just to see what I'd do and that he could know about my real gender made him both infuriating and interesting.

Once I was dressed I grabbed my keys and jogged down the ten sets of stairs to the street level where I walked on the sidewalk towards a deli only two blocks away. When I arrived, and reached the front of the huge line, I ordered my usual turkey sandwich with a piece of bread and a pickle. Once my order arrived I muscled my way through the crowd and managed to snag a table by the window, a rare treat. As I began eating my sandwich, my brain registered something shocking and I looked up to find what had startled me.

I was not prepared to find the red head taking a seat across from me at the tiny table with his familiar smirk plastered on his face. "Are you a fucking stalker?" I growled, suddenly more focused on finding out who this guy was than calling the cops to arrest him for the hostage incident.

"Hm, do your fans know you curse? Not a great way to be a role model," he chided as he pulled the paper wrapping off his straw and stabbed it into his soda. Things fell silent after that, me glaring at him and him just looking at me with an amused expression. "Why so serious, princess?"

"Why did you hold that woman hostage just to see what I'd do? How do you know who I really am? Why are you following me? Why did you **kiss **me?" The questions came out in a flurry and he even had the humility to look flustered for a second, but only for a second.

"Because you interest me. You play superhero, yet you let people think you're a different gender. By day you play doctor, by night you are the masked savior of the city. You should be a movie, seriously, this is very fascinating stuff," he told me with a serious expression, but I could tell inside he was still smirking.

"Do you want money not to tell the press? Are you trying to blackmail me? What do you want?" I slammed my fist down on the table, a habit I'd gotten since meeting him. People paused in their talking to stare at us and I could already hear the buzz of whispers.

"Calm down, princess. I don't want money and I'm not going to blackmail you. I just figured, 'Hey, why not screw with the town's superhero. Get his address and sell it to the highest bidder whose friend he jailed.' Then, to my surprise, I find a small pink haired woman who never stops trying to save people. Some kind of psychological meaning behind that, hm?" he probed and I had to stop myself from leaping across the table and strangling him.

"So you were going to give some thugs my address so they could kill me in my sleep? This is a great way to build trust," I snarled sarcastically. He simply grinned at me and rolled his eyes.

"Y'know, I always thought you were kinda short for a guy so this makes sense." Now he was just taunting me. I stood up, getting ready to throw out the remainder of my meal to get away from him, when he stopped me in my tracks. "You should eat that, you haven't been eating much the last couple days."

I whirled on him, absolutely furious. "How often do you watch me?"

"Basically daily. I love the matching black panties and bra, very sexy." At that comment I leapt at him, but he simply laughed and caught my wrists in his hands, smirking. "Hey, come on. You wouldn't want to hurt me. Then who would you hang out with? It's not like you've got tons of friends to choose from."

That comment stung, especially since it had always bothered me how few people I had left in my life. "You may be a psychopathic stalker, but you don't know anything about me."

"But I do. I know your best friend Ino was shot and killed in a 'robbery' when you guys were in highschool. I know the love of your life, Sasuke Uchiha, cheated on you with the school slut," I was wide eyed, staring at him in complete and total shock. Why the hell did this guy know so much about me? "I know your best friend Naruto moved away when you started your first year of college and after that you just stopped hanging out with anyone. Became Miss Anti-social."

I was suddenly scared, so scared of this man. He knew so much about me and I didn't even know his name. "Who are you?"

"I'm Gaara." I was actually surprised he told me his name. I needed to stop being surprised by everything he did. He suddenly loosened his grip on my wrists and his hands slid down my body, slid over my shoulders and downward to rest on my hips. He leaned in, brushing his lips against the shell of my ear. "And everything I've told you today other than my name and the information about you has been a lie."

Then he was gone, lost in the sea of people leaving me along and scared for the first time in fourteen years. With shaking hands I finished my sandwich and threw out the rest of my meal and went to throw out his drink cup that had been left behind, but when I lifted it I found a note underneath it.

_'Meet me at the illegal fighting ring you arrested two thugs at three weeks ago tonight at 11, dress for a black tie event. I'll be in the third dressing room. Tell them Gaara is expecting you and they'll let you in.'_

Here was hoping it wasn't a trap


	4. Bye Bye Boyfriend

**A/N: **Yet another chapter for my awesome readers! Thank you so much for the reviews! (P.s., if anyone can guess the title reference you get a cookie, because my friend was in that _ (fill in the blank!) )

I was forced to spend my day off hunting for a dress to wear since I didn't have anything fancy and I knew from experience that people dressed up for the fights, something I'd never understand. I had butted heads with Sandman, the mysterious owner of the club where all the fights were held, several times before which ended in my arresting some of his fighters and staff. No one, at least my contacts, even knew what Sandman looked like which made catching him even harder.

I'd struggled with him for several years, ever since I had discovered my..._abilities_, back in high school. Freshman year I had been accidentally pushed from one of the outdoor staircases that led to the upper level classrooms and had managed to web myself to the stairs a flight down so I didn't continue falling. Everyone had thought I had grabbed onto the edge of the stairs somehow, but I'd known the truth and gone home to talk to my parents about it. I still remembered that day clearly.

_Flashback_

_"Dad? Mom?" I sprinted through the house, running into the kitchen to find my mom working on making guacamole while my dad was in the living room a room over watching the news. My mom looked up when I entered, but my dad's gaze remained focused on the TV._

_"Sakura? Will you not run in the house right after I washed the floor!" she scolded, but I ignored her._

"I was at school today and someone accidently pushed me off one of the outdoor staircases-"

_"Oh my god, are you alright?"_

_"-and then I shot these...these-webs! Right out of my hands and I stopped falling and stuck to the wall until other kids pulled me up!" My mom looked confused, but my dad stood up with a furious expression._

_"Dammit, she was supposed to be normal! The doctor cleared her as fucking normal! If I'd known she'd be another freak I'd of made you abort her! Why didn't you tell me? You know there were signs of her being different during your pregnancy!" He was yelling at my mom, not me, and I was so confused. _Freak?

_"I'm sorry, but I couldn't let you kill another of our children! I was tired of that damned abortion clinic! Did you ever stop to think about how I felt about it?" my mother retorted, throwing her hands up in surrender. What the hell where they talking about?_

_"What are you guys talking about?" I asked shakily, stepping away from my furious father._

_He turned on my, his appearance scaring me with his clenched fists, grinding teeth, and protruding vein. "My family has a line of freaks running through it that act like spiders or some kind of mutant. It skipped me, but somehow you got it and your bitch of a mother never told me even though she knew!" His voice was loud and I was suddenly very, very scared._

_I back up and turned around, breaking into a dead sprint for the front door. Yet, when I arrived, he was already there. "You will tell no one. You will show no one. No one is to know my daughter is a freak."_

_End Flashback_

My father had always been extremely opposed to my abilities, and had wanted them to stay a secret, so when the press caught the news that a hero was running around stopping crime acting like some kind of spider, my father kicked me out with a couple hundreds and a suitcase. It wasn't that he was a bad man, no he was actually extremely kind and giving, he just couldn't look at me every day and realize that I was a freak that he'd produced.

After that I'd moved in with my friend Ino. Her parents welcomed me and I'd fallen into their routine. It had been four months after I'd started playing Spiderman and moved in with Ino when their house was broken into. I was at school and Ino's parents at work, but Ino was at home sick. They hadn't taken anything except Ino's life. They'd shot her in the stomach several times and left her there to bleed to death where I would find her later that day. Three days later, mourning the loss of Ino, I'd been looking in a scrapbook of us together we'd made and I found a note.

Four words were printed in neat cursive: You cannot hide Spider_man_, with extra emphesis on the man. The incident had scared me and I'd panicked, nearly retiring from my job as the city's savior. In the end, when I was at Ino's funeral four days after finding the note, I'd realized the city needed me to stop people like the ones who had killed Ino. I hadn't thought about the incident, but now it was sticking out in my mind.

_Who were the people who killed Ino and how did they know my identity? How does Gaara know my identity? Did Gaara...? _The thought that he could be involved with the group who had killed Ino shook me down to my core and I forced myself to focus on the rack of dresses I'd been staring blankly at for the past twenty minutes. I hurriedly picked out a dress that was a long black dress with a slit on the side. I tried it on, barely even seeing how it looked, and bought it before going into the nearest shoe store where I bought a pair of strappy wedges to match.

I sighed, mental exhaustion getting to me, and was not excited when I saw my boyfriend waiting in front of my door. Not like I had an explanation for the fancy dress under my arm and pair of heels in my hand. he turned to me and his expression darkened upon seeing the objects. "Sakura, where the hell have you been? I've been calling and showing up here and you're just disappearing. Now you show up with this fancy dress and heels when we don't have a date."

"Sasuke, calm down." He had no idea who I really was and I honestly had no trust in him. I pushed past him and opened the door with my arm that had my dress under it, nearly dropping it in the process. "I've been extremely busy at the hospital." **Lie. **"And you've been calling a thief because my phone got stolen when I went our for lunch a couple days after we last met." **Lie.**

"It's been nearly two weeks since we've seen each other and you're buying nice dresses and shoes. Are you fucking cheating on me?" he hissed, stepping into my apartment as I put away my purchases.

Sasuke and I had met my senior year of high school and he had been the only thing normal about my life. Well, that was what I'd thought until he'd brought me home. His dad was like a chunk of ice, his mom a ray of sunshine, and his brother just plain creepy. My first meeting with them was so awkward and that was when I realized Sasuke would never be the guy I wanted, nor could he help me build the life I'd dreamed of my whole life.

Sasuke and I continued to 'date', I didn't really consider it dating because we never did anything and it had taken us a year to have our first kiss, through my college experience. I graduated at 25 thanks to the insane help of my teacher Tsunade who understood my push to graduate early. Then she'd offered me a position at the hospital she ran and it all fell into place.

"Sasuke, I'm not cheating on you. You can't even talk about cheating after your still ongoing flings with Karin that yes, I know about." I paused there, Gaara flashing through my mind. "But, I have been thinking and I think we should stop seeing each other." All he'd become was a thorn in my side. He constantly need to check in on me, didn't trust me, and I'd already realized we had no real future together. What I wasn't expecting was for him to charge me and grip my shoulders in his clenched fists, slamming me back against my dresser.

"Bitch, you can't leave me. I graced you with my time and this is how you repay me?" That was when I really knew things were over for us. I threw my knee up into his balls, shoved him backwards, and then forced him out of my apartment. Once I'd slammed the door I sighed and glanced at the clock, noticing it was only eleven in the morning. Still twelve hours until I got to meet the mysterious red head again.


	5. Secrets of His Son

**A/N: **Short, but this chapter was pre-written. I've gotten ahead a couple chapters so I've got an good idea of where this story is going. Enjoy! (I fixed the POV error keira-kyuketsuki kindly pointed out!

When I arrived at the ring club I flashed my ID, glaring at the bouncer when he noticed my young age and nice appearance. I'd pulled my hair into a messy bun and put on a little mascara since I wasn't a fan of any more than very little make up. I stepped past him, taking long and confident steps throughout the club and past people getting drunk as possible before stumbling onto the dance floor to grind against strangers. I gave them disgusted looks, especially the ones who looked like they might make a move at me, before walking over to the door in the back of the club with 'Staff Only' printed across the black door in bold white. I reached for the door handle and was intercepted by a bouncer who moved in my path.

"Back up bitch, staff only." I smiled, knowing this guy would regret being so rude.

"Gaara's expecting me." That made his behavior spin a 180. He stood straighter and moved aside, bowing to me.

"I apologize; I didn't know you were a guest of his." I could tell he was nervous I'd tell Gaara about how he'd treated me, but I wasn't someone to rat about something as trivial as name calling. She pushed past him and opened the door, stepping into a dimly lit hallway. As I strode down the hallway with my dress flowing behind me, I read the name on each door searching for Gaara's name but didn't find his name on any of them. I continue walking down the hallway and rounded a corner to hear cheers fill my ears. At the end of the stretch of hallway a doorway opened up to a fighting arena where Gaara was standing in the very center.

I moved forward, hurrying down the hallway and entering the stands of cheering fans. For such a beaten setting, the spectators were sure dressed up. Women wore long evening gowns with high heels while men wore tuxedoes and dress shoes. I quickly moved down the stairs towards the ring and once I reached the ring I whispered to the two guards in my way, "Gaara is expecting me." They both glanced uneasily at Gaara and then back at me before stepping aside letting me stand at the edge of the ring, peering up at the mat.

I was worrying about standing out when suddenly Gaara announced, "Enjoy the fights ladies and gentlemen!" and climbed out of the ring. For a moment I was too stunned to speak, somehow not having noticed his silk dress shirt and black dress pants before that made him look quite..._sexy_. I shook off such ludicrous thoughts, disgusted with myself. "I'm here, where can we talk?"

He grabbed my elbow and we headed back in the direction we'd come from, our pace fast and it made me wonder what had him on edge. Once we were back in the hallway he ducked into the first dressing room and slammed the door behind us. "Did you have to show up and stand right beside the ring where everyone could see you?" he growled, pacing the room.

I was annoyed with his comment and lack of given information, wasting no time in expressing that annoyance. "Well I'm sorry, but I had no idea where you wanted to meet. It wasn't like you gave me much information. All I know is that you lie to me a lot and throwing around the name Gaara here gets me places which brings up a lot of questions!" I snapped, pointing at him accusingly with a slim finger.

Then he did the most obnoxious thing he possibly could have, he smirked. "You do look lovely." That comment made me want to smack him, but I held my temper for the sake of information. He ran a hand through his hair, his smirk disappearing momentarily as he let out a sigh, before his smirk broadened and he motioned for me to take a seat on the couch of the dressing room across from the dressing table.

I obeyed, hoping listening would speed things up. He took a seat next to me and began. "I don't mean to lie to you so much, but I couldn't give you any real information in a public place."

I grumbled but admitted, "I'm glad you're not selling my location to the highest bidder at least."

"There we go, a start." I glared at him and waved my hand in a motion for him to continue. When he didn't I was forced to speak my mind.

"Why did you call me here? How are you associated with Sandman's fighting ring? How do you know so much about me? Why are you following me so closely?" The questions just flew from my mouth and I giggled when his eyes widened in surprise.

"Well, I can't tell you everything yet, but I can explain some things. Mainly, how I know so much about you." He paused, almost seeming to be doing it for damn dramatic effect. "I grew up beside you. You probably don't remember me, I purposely kept a low profile, but we always went to school together. Over the years, I noticed you. I mean, you were a loud-mouthed and pink-haired weirdo, kinda hard to miss." I shot him a dark glared and he hurried to continue. "_But_, as things continued I noticed you were always trying to help people. At first your hero-complex bothered me, annoyed the hell out of me actually, but then I saw how much people looked up to you and noticed how many people's lives you'd influenced.

"Once we hit high school I noticed you'd come to school injured and while most of your friends either didn't notice or ignored the injuries, they became increasingly worse." He stopped speaking and just studied making me uncomfortable under his intense gaze. "I followed you home one night, determined to figure out what was happening. At first you were just at home lying around like a normal girl, and then that police radio you have reported trouble. Suddenly, you were fucking Spiderman."

So he'd gone to school with me and been curious? I guess I'd never really been very careful about concealing my identity. "I can't tell you why yet, but when I told my dad about it since it, ah, pertains to the family business, he wanted me to continue keeping an eye on you." That was when I got severely confused, tilting my head to the side slightly even.

"What the hell is the family business that you have to spy on Spiderman?" I questioned, suddenly feeling very unsafe next to Gaara.

"I thought you'd never ask," he whispered and lifted his arm. I stared at it and nearly screamed as I watch it turn to sand and fall to the floor.


	6. Treat for the Crowd

**A/N: **Sorry for not updating! Things have been pretty hectic with me (don't worry, I won't rant about my problems) but I will be double updating!

"Oh my..." I trailed off, not sure what to say. Was Gaara really related to my main enemy? The man who savagely made people fight just for the money? I darted backwards away from him, falling from the couch in an attempt to put space between us.

"Sakura?" he called, his thin eyebrows furrowing together. "Sakura are you alright?"

"You're related to Sandman?" I hissed, suddenly furious for the way I'd felt around him and the way I'd let him treat me.

"I'm his son," he stated slowly, watching me closely. I stared at him for several seconds before making a quick decision based on instinct. I jumped to my feet and ran to the door, throwing it open and bolting into the hallway before breaking into a sprint that was difficult to keep up in heels. I glanced behind me as I reached the corner and he was giving a chase, calling my name in a panicked voice.

I ignored him, flying down the hallway with my dress whipping around me and suddenly I wished for a pair of converse and my suit. Paying complete attention to how close Gaara was, I missed the body in front of me and rammed straight into it. When I looked up at the body from the floor and was greeted with the sight of a man standing there looking pissed, I knew I'd made a mistake.

He glared at me and I heard Gaara approach from behind me, but I didn't bother to look behind me since the real threat felt like it was standing in front of me. "Hello father," Gaara greeted and I knew I was so very dead. I decided to go for innocent doe eyes in hopes he'd brush me off and leave me alone.

"I'm so sorry sir! I was looking for the ladies room," I got to my feet as gracefully as possible and stared at him with sincere eyes.

"Foolish girl, how many pink haired women do you think there are in this city? I know exactly who you are." I reacted immediately, throwing webs up on the ceiling and using them to lift myself over Gaara. Once around the red head I started running towards the arena, hoping there was a back exit.

"Come back here!" Sandman bellowed and I felt fear streak through me. I'd never fought him before and if he was as strong as the rumors predicted, I was going to die in a disgusting, illegal fighting ring this night. I heard his fist soaring towards my head when I was almost at the ring's entrance and ducked, swallowing a scream as his fist destroyed the top of the doorway. I dove through the debris seconds later, not having the time to slow down and wait for the falling ceiling to settle.

I was thrown down the stairs when a wave of sand collided with my back and I ended up crumpled at the bottom of the stairs. He was quickly upon me, smashing his sand fist down into the ground I'd would have been had I not rolled out of the way in time. I then jumped to my feet, kicking at him but ended up getting my leg caught in the sand. The audience was cheering at this point, completely excited for our fight since I guessed Sandman rarely wasted his time fighting what he'd consider 'lower' beings.

The sand formed around my leg and suddenly tightened, jerking me up off the ground and chucking me into the ring. I landed with a harsh smack against the mats and was momentarily winded, a moment he took to his advantage. He leapt up beside me, his whole right arm having become sand at this point which concerned me. He was getting serious.

I kicked up my legs and when I rocked forward I used the momentum to throw myself to my feet where I came face to face with one of the most dangerous criminals of the city. He threw his sand arm forward, sending a blade shaped wave of sand towards my stomach that I barely managed to dodge. I knew my webs would have little effect, he could just turn to sand and they wouldn't be able to hold him together, so this fight was going to be hand-to-hand combat. In a rare moment of distraction I glanced to the side and saw Gaara in the doorway-or what was left of it-of the arena looking torn.

In that moment Sandman lashed out at me and struck me across the face, sending me flying backwards against the ropes where he advanced towards me again. In that moment I knew running was the only way I wouldn't end up getting killed to I shot webs onto the ceiling and dodged past Sandman to swing myself up the stairs, landing beside Gaara. I glanced at him once before running, heading back towards the club. I dodged through the bodies, shouldering through men and women alike with slowing.

When I finally got outside I put my hands on my knees and after taking several deep breaths I disappeared into the crowd, my body aching from my first meeting with Sandman. As I walked home, exhausted and sore, I couldn't help but think about everything I'd learned since Gaara had entered my life. He was Sandman's son, Sandman was very strong, Sandman had asked his son to follow me, I got weird feelings around Gaara.

Suddenly, all my limbs felt extremely heavy and I barely made it into my apartment before dropping. Landing on my bed, I only had time to think, _What else is Gaara hiding?_


	7. Public Eye

**A/N: **Here is the second update I promised! Enjoy!

When I called into work the next day Tsunade screamed at me, telling me if I was late then I probably didn't feel well and if I didn't feel well I needed to tell her. Somehow, the conversation ended in me getting a week off that I didn't want to take off, but she just wouldn't take no for an answer. I sighed and brushed a hand through my hair, deciding to grab a shower before I went out for breakfast while making a mental note not to go to the deli.

When I had finished showering and dressed in a part of jean shorts, a white tank top with a dark blue flannel over, and a pair of dark blue converse that matched the flannel. As soon as I was dressed I left my apartment, the aches from the fight the day before returning by the time I reached the street. I got several funny looks from people, presumably from the bruises that were probably there, but even I was surprised when I looked at my reflection in a shop window. My whole left cheek had turned a dark purple and bruises dotted over my legs and there was also bruising on the backs of my arms from my being thrown to the ground.

I suddenly felt self-conscious looking so beat up in public and nearly jumped when someone linked arms with me and began leading me away from the window. The first clue to my companion's identity was a flash of red that caught my attention. I stared at Gaara the whole time he led me along, but he refused to look at me until we entered a small diner and got us a booth in the back. As soon as the waitress had left he looked up and opened his mouth as if to speak, but instead winced.

"Are you alright?" he asked, motioning to his cheek so I'd know what he was talking about. I simply shrugged paranoia and suspicion at him not allowing me to relax. He must have noticed my tense demeanor because he reached across the table and brushed his fingers across my bruised cheek lightly enough that it didn't hurt, but hard enough his touch left behind tingles on my skin which pissed me off. "I'm sorry I couldn't step in, my father wouldn't be excited about me spending time with the only person stopping him from turning this whole city into a crime riddled madhouse. I ended up telling him I'd lured you there so he could kill you, so don't believe him if he tell you that."

I didn't understand Gaara's need to explain what had happened to me, he didn't owe my anything. I simply lifted a brow at him, but after his explanation I found myself relaxing more. "So, what happened to your work addiction? I can't see you choosing to take time off," he chuckled and if his sudden smile hadn't been so surprisingly stunning, I would have been annoyed by the comment.

"My boss forced me to take time off." That seemed to amuse him because he sat back in his booth, his smile turning to his signature smirk that made me want to smack him. "Don't look so smug!" I grumbled, grabbing my napkin and kneading it in my hands. I tore small pieces off of it and stacked them in a pile of the table, looking for an outlet for my nerves.

"Nervous?" he chuckled and I shot him a glare, comforting myself by telling myself I was only nervous because he was the son of Sandman.

"How do I know daddy won't show up and try to kill me again? I still hardly know anything about you," I pointed out. "At least this time I'm not in heels so I have a better chance at running," I scoffed and focused all my attention on my napkin. When he replied, I was somewhat surprised by the angry tone he took.

"I tried to stop you when you ran out into the hallway. I didn't know my sand would freak you out so much." His shoulders were hunched slightly when I looked up and he looked slightly bothered, an expression I hadn't seen on him.

I sighed, setting down the remains of my napkin on the table with its ripped up pieces and decided to try and make peace with him. I didn't know why, but I didn't like us fighting in the least. "I'm sorry for not listening to you, but I'll admit you freaked me out when you turned your arm to sand and then told me your the son of Sandman, the number one criminal in the city might I remind you." He looked like he was about to retort something, but our waitress arrived and took our orders.

He asked for a full combo plate while I stuck with a small plate of pancakes, my nerves were killing my appetite that had been ravenous earlier. When the waitress had scurried off to fill our orders he turned to me, looking me straight in the eye, and stated, "I never meant to scare you. You wanted to know things about me and I figured that was the best place to start." Thinking about it, he was probably right.

Any other information about him wouldn't make sense without knowing how he was related to the underworld and why he was so deep in it. "And while I may be Sandman's son, that doesn't mean I'm some murderous bastard who thrives for blood," he paused before adding more quietly, "not anymore anyways." That comment bothered me and I stared at him, urging him to continue. He seemed to get my message because he reached for a sugar packet and tore it open, pouring the contents into his empty coffee cup. He began to shake the coffee cup to stir the sugar around and spoke softly in a voice that I barely recognized as his, "When I was growing up I was pretty fucked up. My mom died giving birth to me, I'd partially turned to sand inside her and it tore her body apart, so I had only my father to raise me.

"He taught me the ways of the underworld, taught me mercy was the quickest way to an early grave and I believed him. I constantly fought and was always in trouble at school or with the cops, a daddy's boy." He stopped shaking the cup, turning his focus back to me. "Then I found you. After I told my father about you and he had me start following you, I became fixated on you. I was so confused on why you gave up so much to help people that only spoke about what you could have done better. It infuriated me how happy you looked when I knew things were hard for you. Honestly, I was so jealous."

"Gaara, I-" He shook his head, letting me know he had to finish before anything else could be said.

"And then one day it clicked. I don't know if you remember this, but there was an apartment building burning down in downtown. You showed up and pulled all the people from that burning building and you inhaled so much smoke and had more than your fair share of burns. You came stumbling out of the building and handed that little kid to its mother and she just stared at you and cried, sobbing thank you over and over again. At that moment, I got it. You didn't do it for the fame or to be praised, you did it because you truly enjoyed helping people." Somehow my hand had slithered across the table and his had lifted to meet mine, our hands becoming linked in the center of the table.

"I just started losing faith in my father, everything I'd grown up around because of you. I began understanding how wrong everything I knew was. For a couple weeks there, I wanted to kill you for ruining everything." I didn't pull away when he admitted that. The brutal honesty of his confession and the way he spoke stopped me from fearing him. That and the odd quickening of my heart rate whenever he was near. "Then, I figured that you were right and I was wrong, simple as that. Ever since then I've followed you, watching you and keeping an eye on you. So many times I've wanted to help you, but I know I can't. To the public eye, I have to be the bad guy and you this city's superhero. I can't fix who my father is; I just have to live with it."

Hearing him say that, like he was giving up on ever being better than his father, made my heart plummet because in the few days I'd known Gaara I'd already figured out he was a far better man than his father even had the potential to be. I tightened the grip of our linked hands and whispered, "But not everything has to be in the public eye."


	8. Assistance From a Frenemy?

**A/N: **Thank you everyone for your lovely support!

When I'd gone home after our meeting, all talk becoming idle chat after my comment about the public eye, I thought about Gaara. He had been raised in the darker side of the world, taught cruelty and hate, but he'd still managed to rise above those who raised him and learn what was right. Not that whatever I did was right, no I knew my choices could always be questioned, but he saw that hatred and death were not the answer to everything. As I stumbled down the sidewalk home, I heard police sirens and immediately started sprinting home, cursing myself for not bringing a bag with my suit in it.

Once home I flew to my radio and clicked it on, grabbing my suit from my dresser and pulling it on after stripping off my clothes. "It seems Sandman, the notorious underground criminal who has been linked to several of the city's largest scandal, has it out for Spiderman. Several of his henchmen made an announcement from the top of a skyscraper at Maine and Fourth that he had hostages inside the building and would not hesitate if Spiderman didn't show within the next half hour." I tugged on my suit; barely finishing getting it on before I bolted for the window and jumped out it, shooting webs onto the surrounding buildings so I could swing myself through the streets.

Sandman had stooped low to take hostages and I was growing impatient with the asshole. When I reached my destination, a beaten skyscraper that I'd heard was to be torn down due to safety reasons, I immediately went for the roof only to have large chunks of the building- like beams and cement pieces- thrown at me from the roof. I dodged them, but in concern for the civilians below I was forced to pause on the side of the building and create a safety web that leaned against the building like a ladder to catch any falling debris.

I then continued my climb, barely moving aside as a large chunk of what looked to be a wall flew past me. I managed to get to the rooftop without any more problems, but a huge problem in the form of a group of children was literally thrown at me as soon as my feet touched the roof. They knocked me over and all of us began the fall towards the ground, flying through the air. I shot a web onto each child, reeling them in like fish before webbing them together and then attacking their makeshift harnesses to the building off to the right of my earlier web. I then, in a last attempt to not hit the ground, attack a web to the building's corner and swung straight towards the ground because I'd made the web too long and it would reach the ground.

Just as I was about to hit the ground a wave of sand rushed up to meet me, acting as a cushioning ramp that softened my fall and let me roll off some of the force. As I settled on the ground, sand grains still under me, I saw Gaara staring at me from several feet away with a blank expression. Then, without warning, hit sand moved under me and formed a giant hand before pulling back and throwing me up into the air. On instinct I shot webs onto the building and after realizing Gaara had been giving me a boost, a smile fought its way onto my face.

I suddenly had a rush of adrenaline, the need to be impressive adding to my drive to help. I practically flew up the building, dodging past the trapped building pieces. I threw myself over the top of the building and began the fight with a flying kick to the stomach of the closest criminal. I dodge under a knife a man with sharp blonde hair swung at me, giving him a kick in the ball for good measure. I had to flip backwards towards the buildings edge when a man came at me with a baseball bat, swinging madly.

He was screaming about, what I thought to be, a jailed sister and how it was all my fault. I barely dodged his constant attacks, bending at insane angles to avoid the dangerous chunk of wood. I watched the bat for several more swings before darting my hand out and grabbing it in mid air, effectively stopping his advances. I quickly pulled the bat from his hands and threw it away from it, faintly hearing it bump against the ground and then skid to a stop against the roof ledge.

Then, it was my turn on offense and I immediately began an onslaught of punches and kicks, backing him up until he was near his buddies who, after realizing I was on the attack, had moved towards the hostages. I gave my opponent a swift kick to the head before moving in on those threatening the innocent people. First, I attacked those holding children followed by the woman and finally the men. Through a combination of kicking, punching, and ducking I managed to separate the citizens and criminals. I glared at the criminals before charging.

Quickly they dispersed and all ran to the rooftop entrance with one of them trailing behind. He paused, saluted me, and then whipped out a radio from his pocket. "Blow it."

And then the building was rocking, the very foundation shaking. I tried steadied myself, hearing the screams of the citizens. I turned and sprinted for the ledge of the building, leaping from it and feeling the air rushing against my skin as I fell towards the ground. I landed atop my web and began shooting webs across the street above the watching people. I was creating a web that stretched across the whole street since the building seemed to be tilting towards the street and hopefully the web would slow the buildings fall enough for the people watching to run.

I then turned and leapt back towards the building, pulling myself back to the roof for what felt like the fiftieth time. I called all the people to me and instructed them to come with me through the building since I couldn't jump all of them off the building.

"You don't need to." I turned to find Gaara standing on the roof and relief washed over me to the point my body almost gave up, but I wouldn't let it. I nodded to Gaara and he turned to his arm to sand immediately, his arm forming a large bowl shaped cup. The people climbed inside just as the building began to give in and Gaara, with me by his side, leapt from the opposite side of the building. I had grabbed a young man and older man and as we descended I shot webs onto the nearest building while Gaara turned his body to sand to cushion his fall.

When we reached the ground the people immediately ran from Gaara and I towards a safer position away from the crumbled building. I watched the building shudder as it continued to crumble to the street and was glad to see that the crowd that had been watching had moved over to the street to my left and had the kids I'd saved earlier with them. I let out a sigh and stumbled back, stress evident on my features.

When I felt two strong arms slide around my waist and a head settle on my shoulder, I wasn't as surprised as I should have been. "You're welcome," Gaara whispered in my ear before disappearing in whirl of sand.


	9. Deaf Girls and Lost Friends

**A/N: **I may not be able to update tomorrow, so here you guys go! There isn't any Gaara in this chapter, but hopefully _other characters _and some Sakura background will make up for it. I just loved writing this chapter because I hope it gives Sakura more depth as a character in the story. Enjoy!

When I woke up alone in my apartment, a sudden feeling of loneliness and a need for company washed over me so strongly I nearly got out of bed just to wander into the busy streets. As I lay there, bruised from the day before's troubles, I suddenly wished Gaara were with me, lying beside me and just enjoying the quiet morning with me. I immediately tried to shake the thought, but I just couldn't abandon the lovely picture. Gaara, dressed in only his boxers, lying beside me with me curled into his chest as we lay in the sun filtering through my window.

I had to admit to myself it was a rather peaceful idea, but I also admitted it would never happen. After that little fantasy I lied in bed for another half hour, wallowing in the misery of having no friends left. I then decided to drag my body from bed and begin my day, dressing in a pair of jean, my usual black converse, and a To Write Love On Her Arms t-shirt, one of my favorite charities.

Once dressed I left my apartment and was walking down the stairs towards the street when I slammed into a man. I stumbled back, clutching the railing and lifting my eyes to glare at the jerk. "Hey, watch where you're goi-" I broke off my sentence, freezing in place. My hand slowly came up to grip the front of my chest as my heart thundered in my ears. Without warning I leapt at him and he managed to somehow catch me without us falling down the stairs. I began to sob, my head buried in his shoulder as I shook in his arms, lingering doubts about his safety for the past years gone.

Naruto was back.

A couple minutes later when I'd calmed down and he'd loosened his hold but still kept his arms around me, I spoke. "Where the hell you been you fox? I was worried," I scolded in a watery voice, no real threat in my words.

He simply grinned at me, pecked me on the cheek, and then announced, "I'm engaged." At that I froze again, staring at him. I stayed stuck that way for several moments before sharply raising my hand, balling it into a fist, and then punching him over the head. He released me and back away slightly holding his head.

"Sakura, what did you do that for!" he whined, holding his head with a comically cute expression on his face.

"Idiot! You leave for a couple years and then come back just to tell me you're engaged! You can't tell me this much all at once! Let me sit down for Pete's sake! I swear you got dumber!" Then we then began arguing, throwing back and forth insults, but inside I was just glad to see him again, safe and sound.

Eventually the arguing died down and I invited him into my apartment to catch up. He accepted and I turned around, taking us back to my apartment. I unlocked the door when we arrived and as it swung open I heard Naruto suck in a breath. I turned to him, confused, but he brushed past me and walked into my messy living space. He just stood there in the middle of the room looking around for a while, occasionally shooting me a look I couldn't decipher, before sighing and then glaring at me.

"I was warned you weren't taking care of yourself, but this is ridiculous Saku! The pink haired woman I know is a neat freak that alphabetizes obsessively kills anyone who leaves a mess in her house, and takes pride in her cleanliness." I shrugged, his words hurting more than I would ever let on. I knew I'd let myself slip a little when things started changing, but it hurt to hear my best friend in the world point it out.

"Wait a minute, who warned you?" I was suddenly suspicious. How had he known where I lived? How had he known I hadn't been taking care of myself?

Suddenly, Naruto looked very uncomfortable. "Uh...erm..." Then he straightened up, trying to look like he could deny me any information I asked for. "I told him I wouldn't tell."

"Gaara!"

"How did you know?" he gasped, looking completely shocked. I rolled my eyes and giggled, typical Naruto to accidently give up information.

"He and I have been..." At that moment I realized I had no idea what Gaara and I were to each other. "...helping each other out."

"Are you guys sex friends!" Naruto shouted loudly and I jumped at him, clamping a hand over his mouth and sending him my most menacing glare.

"We are not anything more than acquaintances!" I hissed, stressing the not. He seemed to calm when I said that so I released him and stepped back, rubbing my temples since it had been a few years and it seemed I was no longer as immune to Naruto headaches. I then let out a soothing breath and looked at Naruto before asking, "So who are you engaged to?"

That seemed to be the magical question because a golden smile lit up his face and he grabbed me by the shoulders, gently shaking me. "She's amazing, Saku! She's so sweet, but kinda shy and passed out the first time I asked her out! Now she only passes out sometimes when we-"

"Eh! I don't need to know about your romantic life that deeply!" He grinned at me and nodded, a laugh escaping his lips.

"I love her and asked her to marry me about a month ago. Have you guessed who it is yet? Hinata! That quiet little deaf girl who was in our English class in high school! After I proposed we started talking about old times and then I was thinking about you and I wanted you to be there for the wedding. I started searching for you and called the newspaper, you used to work there back in high school and into first year of college at least, and they told me you'd quit. I thought I'd hit a dead end when I got a call from this guy named Gaara a week ago. He told me where you were and told me you guys were friends and he'd seen the message about me call as well as knew about me from you."

I was stunned, confused, and slightly frustrated.

"Saku, I'm moving back here. I'm bringing my bride and everything can be like old times." That brought tears to my eyes because I knew nothing would ever again be the same.

"Naruto, things can never be the same." He looked at me with a puzzled expression and after suppressing a sob I continued, "I'm Spiderman." He stared at me for several seconds before laughing.

"You're funny Sakura, but Spiderman is a man!" he continued laughing, but his laughing broke off when he noticed not only I wasn't laughing, but I was crying. "Sakura?"

I turned away from him and went to my dressed, retrieving my Spiderman suit and wrappings. I disappeared into my bathroom, dressing between sobs as I hoped Naruto would accept my dangerous profession.

When I exited the bathroom, dressed in my full Spiderman attire save for the mask, I stared straight at Naruto. I then slowly pulled on the mask and walked up to him, lifting my hands and signing, 'I'm sorry,' to him which was the only way I saw fit to help make him see this was the truth. He'd never known, but Hinata and I had actually known each other quite well.

_Flashback_

_I hated breaking into the nurse's office after the school was closed, but I just couldn't afford the medical supplies any more. I was constantly getting hurt on the job and because of that job I couldn't get a real one. My one at the paper barely paid for my rent and groceries. As I rummaged through the drawer where the bandages and rubbing alcohol were kept._

_When the sound of the door opening echoed throughout the room I whirled around to meet the confused eyes of Hinata who was staring at me. I quickly began signing and asked, 'What are you doing here?'_

_She was fast replying and told me, 'I left my math notebook here after I lied down here earlier with a headache.' I nodded slowly, not sure where to take things from there. She then stepped forwards and peered over my shoulder and saw the rubbing alcohol and bandages in my hands which earned me a quirked eyebrow and the signed question, 'Are you hurt?'_

_'A little,' I replied, not sure what she would do about it. Without warning she reached around me and grabbed the supplies._

_'I'll help you.' I gave her a grateful smile and didn't try to get her to leave since some of my worse injuries were on my back and I knew I'd have no chance of reaching them. I walked over to the table and sat down, pulling off my t-shirt and then wriggling out of my jeans. As I sat there, dressed in my underwear and bra before a girl I barely knew, she glanced at me and then dropped the supplies, her mouth falling open. She quickly signed, 'Did someone hurt you?'_

_'I got hurt at work.' She seemed to accept that answer because she stooped and retrieved the supplies before walking over to me and setting them down. First, she soaked some cotton balls in the alcohol and cleaned my wounds. I was guiltily grateful she was deaf because she couldn't hear my hisses of pain. She then put disinfectant on my wounds before dressing them and then stepping back to check over her work._

_I dressed and then signed her, 'Thank you.' She looked at me for a while, looking uncomfortable, before signing me._

_'If you get hurt again I can help you.' I had nodded and accepted the offer so on the days when I needed help I'd pass her a note in English reading simply, 'Work', and we'd meet in the nurse's office after school. The nurse always took a half hour smoke break right after school let out so we were never in danger of getting caught and in that small white room after school, she and I somehow developed an odd friendship. She helped me treat my injuries and I went out of my way to protect her from bullies at school which sometimes ended up in her treating extra wounds._

_It was an odd friendship, but one where I felt safe none the less. Somehow I knew Hinata would never tell anyone and that she wasn't helping me so I'd owe her one. Just because she was kind._

_End Flashback_


	10. Mistaken Sights

**A/N: **I'm extremely sorry about my lack of updates, but I've literally been busy from the moment I woke up to the moment I fell asleep and away from the computer every day of my absence. I skipped out on important work to write this, so please don't be mad! I will try to return to busy updates, but I have no idea how long I'll be busy for.

Naruto just stared at her, his jaw slack as he tried to take in the information she was telling him. "Naruto, I've been Spiderman since high school. That's how I got hurt all the time; I'm not really much of a klutz." When he didn't reply she stepped towards him and removed the mask again, feeling she couldn't keep proper eye contact with him with it on. She reached up and placed her palm against his cheek, cradling it. "Please, tell me what you're thinking about."

"Ramen." She blinked, surprised at his choice of words.

"What?"

"Ramen, that's what I'm thinking about." She stared at him, surprised, before throwing her arms around him and buried her head in his shoulder, smiling. "Sakura, things won't change just because you choose to sacrifice your normal life to help people. If anything that makes you a better person in my eyes." She sniffed, trying not to cry. The dumb blonde had already made her cry, she refused to act like a wimp around him.

She then stepped back and began stripping off the suit, unable to remove her grin. She knew he'd never see her half-dressed body as suggestive since they were like siblings to each other and he was engaged, but the red head that walked in her apartment door that moment didn't know that. He had the doorknob in his grasp as his eyes calmly looked from Naruto's smiling face to Sakura's dressed in only bra and panties attire and matching grin. With that he turned and slammed the door after him as he exited.

Sakura stayed in the position of removing her suit for several seconds before jumping into action. She ripped off her suit and tossed it aside before bolting from the apartment and chasing after the man for reasons she couldn't comprehend not mindful of her clothing. She chased him down two sets of stairs before reaching him and grabbing his shoulder. She whirled him around to face her and went to speak but found herself choking on her words as sobs shook their way up her throat.

He just stared, his expression calm and collected. When she finally regained the ability to speak she exclaimed, "Gaara, I swear it was nothing like it looked. Naruto showed up and I told him I was Spiderman and he didn't believe me so I got into my suit and showed him! He told me it was okay and I was going to change into normal clothes so we could go out to breakfast when you walked in! I swear it wasn't what it looked like!" She didn't understand why, but she desperately wanted for him to know that nothing had been going to happen.

When he spoke his voice was cold and it stabbed at her heart with an intense pain she'd never before felt. "What occurred or was going to occur in your apartment is none of my business. I'm just the son of your number one enemy, remember?" He then reached up and smacked her hand off his shoulder causing her to bring in to her chest and clutch it to try and ease the physical and emotional sting.

"And what the hell are you wearing; do you strut around in your panties and bra for every man you meet?" That was when she realized what she wore and her arms moved to cover herself, a crimson color staining her cheeks. He then pulled of his coat and shoved it into her chest making her stumble backwards until she fell to land sitting on the stairs. He looked like he wanted to leave but added as if an afterthought, "Put the damn coat on, I hate seeing you all beat up."

She glanced down and saw all her scars, bruises, and the stitches from being stabbed. "Gaara, I-"

He cut her off quickly, throwing his hand up. "Don't bother coming looking for me, whatever we had is done." Then he was off down the staircase, leaving her to put on his coat and drag herself back up to her apartment through her tears. When she got back Naruto was standing in her doorway with a frown on his face and his arms crossed, though the immediately unfolded to catch her in a hug when she ran at him. He wrapped his arms around her and rocked her side to side, whispering calming words into her ear all the while glaring over her shoulder at the already gone man who had made his best friend cry.

~.N~.A~.R~.U~.T~.O~.

As I held Sakura while she sobbed, I knew I needed to meet whoever the Gaara guy was. Even when Sasuke, the 'love of her life', cheated on Sakura she didn't cry. She'd simply stared at me and shrugged before stating, "I guess I wasn't enough." Never before had I seen her so torn up about a guy.

So after I'd ushered her back into her apartment and tucked her in, her falling asleep quickly since she had exhausted herself emotionally, I left. I went down the stairs to the ground level and stepped out onto the sidewalk, deciding to look around the areas nearby because if whatever had gone on between them was more than just a friendship like Sakura made it seem, he'd probably not make it far before breaking down.

I ended up being right and found him on a bench only three blocks away, his hands buried in his hair and his posture hunched. "Hey, Gaara," I called and his head shot up. He just stared at me; his hands still stretched out in the air, before he stood up and moved towards me, a glare coming my way.

"What the fuck do you want?" he snarled and I almost regretted not giving him some time to cool down.

"What the _fuck _I want is for you to go back to having whatever you had with Sakura because nothing happened between us." He looked stunned for several moments before his stance became less aggressive as he went as he stepped back and stopped glaring. Then, not wanting to but knowing playing the jerk would be the best way to figure out his feeling, I added, "Besides, even if something had happened, you two don't seem to be dating, so why does it matter if I decide to screw her?"

His reaction was not only quick, it was exactly what I thought it would be and what I knew to be a sign of protectiveness over a loved one. He grabbed me by my throat and got in my face before hissing, "Don't mess with her or I'll cut off your dick and watch you bleed to death."

I got myself out of his hold with a well placed chop on his arm that struck a nerve and made his arm numb momentarily. Once free I shot him a smile and announced, "You love her." He just stared at me before shaking his head.

"I've been beside her during her whole life and after getting over my jealousy of her, I realized I wanted her and not just for a quick screw. That didn't matter though, I'm the bad guy's son so things will never work and I've already accepted she doesn't have feelings for me." That made me grin, he was just in denial which was pretty easy to fix.

"Gaara, since you've been beside her for so long you should have noticed never before has she cried over a man. All you did was tell her to leave you alone and end your 'friendship'," he put air quotes around friendship to remind Gaara that wasn't really what it was," and she was hysterical. With Sasuke they were dating and he cheated on her with the school slut, but she didn't even cry. Wake up buddy, she wants you too."

He opened his mouth to re-state the difference in sides but I spoke before he could. "And don't give me that bad guy good girl shit, we both know it didn't matter when you followed her around and watched over her when she fought crime." I was going out on a limb there, I knew. I actually had no idea if Gaara followed her around, but if he was that protective of her just having sex with another guy then there was no way her fighting criminals would be fine with him.

"Fine, fine. I won't stay away from her and we'll keep up our 'friendship', but I still don't think she and I will get anywhere romantically."

I simply smiled and replied, "You've been wrong before, you though Sakura and I were fuck-buddies." He laughed and I added, "That isn't funny! That's like me sleeping with my sister, I would never do that!"


	11. Secret Funding

**A/N: **I had to work hard to get this done, but things are finally slowing down for me (perfect timing, right before summer!) so hopefully I'll stay with my daily updates.

Gaara continued to think about what Naruto had said as he headed home. He threaded his way through the club and went through the back door to get to the fight club. He mostly slept in one of the dressing rooms since his dad mostly stayed at hotels because of his constant traveling. When he walked down the hall and arrived at the last dressing room, his usual place for staying, he went into the dressing room

Once inside he collapsed onto the couch of the room, staring at the ceiling with his hands folded behind his head. A small sigh escaped his lips as thoughts of Sakura danced through his mind, one specific thought of Sakura's half-dressed body sticking out and causing a heat lower in his body to grow. It made him emit a growl and he rolled onto his side, remaining there until sleep took over.

~.T~.H~.E~.~.N~.E~.X~.T~.~.M~.O~.R~.N~.I~.N~.G~.

When Gaara awoke he heard someone call his name from the other side of the door of the dressing room and he blinked several times to clear the sleep from his mind. Gaara got up and lumbered over to the door and pulled it open.

He saw his father's most trusted bodyguard and knew his father wanted to speak with him. Gaara let Nick, the bodyguard, lead him through the already rebuilt doorway to the arena, around the back of the arena stands, and took him through a door on the other side of the arena into his father's office. Once inside Nick left, closing the door behind him. Gaara spotted his father seated behind his desk with his phone held to his ear and his fingers impatiently tapping against his desk.

"I don't want to hear that this bitch has a guy with her that looks strong, I want to hear that you relayed my message and see you back in this office! Do I make myself clear?" he snarled, his voice low and threatening. Gaara feared no one, but whenever his father got angry chills raced through his body and he become wary.

"Look, if you need to take out the blonde and then go after the girl. Smack her up a little, deliver the message, and come back." With that his father slammed the phone down on its cradle and turned in his chair to face Gaara. "That bitch is more trouble than I thought. She managed to free those hostages and several of my men were taken out when the building collapsed. I thought you were going to warn her about me and make her scared of messing with me."

Gaara's father had no idea Sakura knew Gaara was his son; he thought Gaara was just playing the torn friend who was warning her about the dangers of messing with Sandman. "She isn't as easy to scare as I guessed she would be. She is adamant in fighting against you to try and 'protect' the city, it's pathetic really." Sandman nodded, his fingers tapping against the desk in a habit Gaara had grown to recognize over the years as annoyance.

"Continue to warn her, as you probably heard I sent a few men over to her apartment to smack her up and deliver a message. The message is just for her to continue eliminating my competition, but to leave me alone or there will be sacrifices. It appears she's close with the blonde because after you got back I got word from my men stationed at her apartment that he's staying at her apartment looking out the windows and locking all forms of entry as if he knows she's in danger. He could be a start."

Gaara wanted to howl and strangle his father for trying to torture Sakura through the death of her loved ones, but he contained his anger and vented some of it by clenching his fists tightly behind his back where they couldn't be seen. "I will." Gaara turned and left, walking slowly out of his father's office but breaking into a sprint as soon as he'd exited it. He had to get back to Sakura's apartment and quickly take out his father's men without letting any escape in case they told his father what he did.

He rushed through the streets, knocking over several people, but not pausing to apologize. A scraped knee was far better than whatever his father's henchmen had in mind for Sakura. When he finally got to her building he bolted up the stairs taking them three at a time and never slowing down. He quickly reached her floor and ran to her door, kicking it open to find Sakura curled up and asleep in her bed and Naruto seated on the windowsill of one of the two windows on either side of her bed. He looked up at Gaara with a questioning expression upon his entrance and Gaara put a finger to his lips.

"Slowly look out the window and into the windows of the building across the street. Then get up and fix the door." Naruto did as he asked and when he looked out the window his eyes darkened he got up and put the door back on its hinges, not screwing it into place but just setting it back how it was. "Sandman's men were sent here to smack Sakura up and warn her to stay out of their business. If I'm caught here, things are going to be over and I can't feed her information or come near her anymore. Can I trust you to protect her?"

Naruto nodded, his eyes flashing darkly and his fingernails dug into his palms as he clenched his hands. "I want more than anything to stay here and protect her, but you understand when I saw that this will be worse for her if I do." Naruto nodded, understanding what Gaara said even if he would have liked to have the extra help protecting here. "If they haven't attacked yet, then something is delaying them which could be good or bad."

Naruto nodded and was about to reply when the smashing of the window on the other side of Sakura's bed startled them and Gaara turned to look at the window just in time to see a long metal arm reach inside and wrap its claws around the waist of the just waking Sakura and drag her back out through the window. As it did so the shards of glass from the broken window stabbed into her skin and cut her, leaving blood on the destroyed window. Gaara quickly ran around her bed and leaned out the window to see a man with metal arms that seemed to be originating from his back crushing Sakura in his metal claw.

She screamed and the man turned to face Gaara, his glasses sliding down his nose and his lab coat snapping in the wind. "Your father's presumptions were correct; it seems you've changed sides Gaara."

Gaara turned his arm to sand and lashed out at the odd man, but had to pull his punch when the man used Sakura as a shield. "Ah, ah, ah. Shouldn't we introduce ourselves first?" Gaara glared at the man, but he continued. "Since I know who you are, I'll tell you who I am. I am known as Doctor Octopus, Doc Oc for short, because of my eight metal arms I created." Gaara's sand arm twitched back and forth in annoyance, wanting desperately to attack the man harming Sakura.

Gaara could feel Naruto behind him and also felt the fury radiating off the blonde. "I bet you're wondering how I'm connected to your father, well that's an interesting story. See these arms are amazing, but quite risky so no one would fund my project. I knew they would work and give me an advantage over normal people and fortunately your father saw that potential. He funded the creation and research of these in exchange for me working for him, a trade in my favor."

His claw holding Sakura then pulled her towards him and the Doctor took Sakura's chin in his hand as she struggled against the crushing claw. "It's too bad she has to die, she really is a beautiful girl and obviously you think so too because you abandoned your raising to protect her." In a swift movement the arm holding Sakura reared back and then threw her down towards the street below. "Oops, sometimes I forget the arms are tapped into my brain and hear my every wish."

Gaara dove from the window, his whole body turning to sand and wrapping around the falling Sakura. When they hit a below taxi cab chaos immediately broke out and when Gaara turned back to his human form and held the bleeding Sakura to his chest he looked up, but the Doctor was gone. He wanted to chase after the monster who had laid a hand on Sakura, but he knew there were more pressing matter at the time, namely Sakura.


	12. Changing Sides

******A/N: **I am so SORRY! I don't have twenty chapter I can upload to make up for it, but I swear I was busy! I've got family here, my dad's meds are behind so my house has been hell, and I reailzed I had no idea how I was going to fill the gap from where I am on this story to where I want the ending to be. I'm working it out and I'm very sorry! Please forgive me!

Gaara ran into Naruto halfway up the tedious sets of stairs to Sakura's apartment. The blonde's expression managed to turn even darker upon seeing the bloody and bruised Sakura. He rushed ahead back to the apartment and held the door open while Gaara carried her over to her bed, settling her on the covers. He nearly growled when the covers immediately were stained red by Sakura's still bleeding cuts, he thought they'd have stopped bleeding by the time they got back to her apartment.

When he turned to go the bathroom and get medical supplies he found Naruto standing in his way holding out a first aid kit. Gaara took it quickly and opened it, removing first the disinfectant and cotton balls. He soaked them in the disinfectant and then went around cleaning her wounds, guilt gripping his heart when she hissed in pain. After he'd cleaned all the cuts he could find, some of them deep enough to be called gashes which worried him, he began wrapping all of them in bandages.

Once that task was finished he leaned back, kneeling on the bed beside her. He then sucked in a long breath, gaining to the courage to look at the damage done to waist from being gripped so tightly by the Doctor's metal claw. He lifted her shirt up to just below her breasts and flinched at the sight of the already purpling bruising that was in the shape of the claw all the way around her waist save for a small section on her right side where the claw hadn't been able to wrap around because of its non-circular shape.

Sakura had groaned when he'd lifted her shirt and eased her eyes open to stare into Gaara's eyes as he watched over her. "Gaara, what the hell is going on? I was sleeping and then some guy with extra arms attacked me." Gaara ran his hands through his hair in frustration, unsure how to explain the situation to Sakura.

"My father knows I'm changed sides in this war, he knows my loyalties reside with you." Hearing him say that made a thrill of joy run through Sakura but the pain in her body prevented her from smiling. "He told me he was sending men to hurt you as a test and I failed it because he had his men watch and they saw me warn you, or at least warn Naruto to take care of you. The man with the extra arms would be Doctor Octopus, a man who works for my father because my father funded the creation of those arms."

Sakura nodded, trying to absorb all the information being given to her. For some reason, after understanding all the information, the first thing she blurted was, "You can stay with me." That surprised Gaara and he lifted an eyebrow at her as if asking her to explain. "I mean, you don't have anywhere to stay anymore, you can stay with me." Gaara nodded at that and suddenly Naruto spoke, both of them almost having forgotten he was there.

"Sakura, I know you told me about your new line of work, but I'm going to need a more detailed explanation now that I've seen that you're in some serious danger." Sakura sighed, blowing hair out of her face as she did so.

"Naruto, Gaara is the son of Sandman who is the number one most wanted criminal of the city. Sandman runs an underground fighting ring, is thought to run a prostitution ring, and is notorious for all kinds of scams that people can't report since the way he conducts his scandals are convincing, but illegal."

"Wait a minute, so you're telling me Gaara switched sides after knowing you for very little time?" Naruto's voice was more than suspicious but Sakura put her hands up in a calming position, warning him not to make a move.

"No Naruto, Gaara went to school with us. He's known me for a long time and has shadowed me on my missions to help people to make sure I was alright. He can be trusted." Gaara snorted when she said the last part like it was obvious and Naruto seemed to relax, his muscles no longer tense and taut. "So what are we doing now?" she asked, wincing as Gaara pulled a shard of glass from her arm and dropped it onto her nightstand where a pile of them was accumulating.

Gaara's eyes snapped up and he commanded, "You will stay in bed and rest. I'll stay with you and get you cleaned up while Naruto gets his ass on a plane and goes home. Obviously he doesn't need to be involved and you don't need and weaknesses like a hostage." Naruto was about to protest, reclaim his manliness since his pride had been damaged by the idea of being a weakness, but Gaara stopped him. "Blondie, do you really think my father won't hesitate to attack you or those you love to get to Sakura?"

Naruto bristled at the idea of Hinata being attacked and backed down, glaring at the floor with a strong hatred for the man Gaara called father. "Naruto, I really couldn't put Hinata at risk, not for my sake," Sakura told him, wincing as another piece of glass was pulled from her body. "Oh my..." In a rush she threw herself from her bed onto the floor, blood dripping from her open wounds. She struggled to her feet as Naruto and Gaara were stuck in place in shock at her sudden actions. As she limped across the room still dressed in only her underclothing and Gaara's jacket, reaching for the doorknob.

That was when Gaara was jolted back to reality and he chased after her, slamming his hand against the door to keep it closed. She looked up at him through pain fogged eyes that had traces of confusion. "Where the hell are you going?" he snarled, furious at her for trying to get around when injured.

"My patients, what if he knows how much I love my patients? He could easily kill them since they're all sick or injured!" she screamed, tears forming in her eyes at the thought of losing any of her patients.

Gaara's hands shot out to grasps her face in his large, rough hands. "Sakura, they'll be _fine_, it's you I'm worried about. You need to rest while I figure out what the hell to do about all of this. Okay?" She had already become less tense in his hands and she began to sway before him. He quickly pulled her into his arms bridal style since holding her waist was out of the question he walked over to her bed and deposited her on top of the sheets. He didn't like how cheap they looked and noted he would have to buy her warmer bed sheets with winter closing in.

He began bandaging her wounds, wrapping each one carefully and treating them all like life-threatening wounds. It tore him up inside to see her so beat up while he was only able to clean her up afterwards. When he finished he tucked her under her sheet and went to stand, but her hand shot out to grab the front of his shirt, pulling him down towards her on the bed. He leaned over and put his ear next to her mouth so she could tell him what she wanted, but she didn't say anything. "Sakura, what?" he asked, studying her face in his now close up position.

"Sleep with me." Gaara's mind quickly jumped to the mental image of her half dressed and he had to fight a tightening below his stomach. "Don't get any ideas, either of you idiot. I mean I want him beside me while I sleep. I don't want to wake up to being pulled out my window again." Gaara gave a soft chuckle at her logical and pulled back the covers on her bed to slide in beside her. He pulled her back against his chest gently, careful of her injuries. She snuggled against him and with a deep breath she faded into sleep while Gaara simply watched her.

Naruto stood off to the side, watching his long time friend with a sad expression. "I'm sad to see it, but I guess she finally doesn't need me anymore."


End file.
